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Peace scarf set to go on display for Burnley vigil

A PEACE scarf is set to go on public display as anti-nuclear campaigners stage their annual vigil in Burnley town centre.

East Lancashire CND will unfurl their creation, made up of 40 knitted sections and which measures around 40 metres in length.

Protesters will drape the banner around St James Street from 11.30am on Wednesday, August 6, as part of their Hiroshima Day commemorations.

Joan West, CND secretary, said: “This is the anniversary of the day in 1945 when an atomic bomb was dropped on the town of Hiroshima in Japan, killing 140,000 outright and causing endless others to suffer and die of burns, radiation sickness and cancers.

“The service will start with the ringing of a bell, which is a miniature replica of the bell rung in Hiroshima each year at the start of their commemoration service. Paper cranes will be displayed as the bird is a symbol of peace.”

The scarf will later form part of a longer chain, designed to be rolled out between two nuclear facilities in Berkshire, as part of a demonstration against the upgrading of Britain’s Trident nuclear weapons system.

Campaigners have already displayed the scarf, as a work in progress, at Burnley’s May Day celebrations and the Clarion Tea House in Newchurch.